Sunday, November 20, 2016

Quilted!

Snowflakes and Swirls

A finish! Yes, just the quilting but it is remarkable because I challenged myself to learn a new quilting design. Running a longarm doesn't come naturally to me and I don't have much experience in the art of free-motion quilting or embroidery on a standard sewing machine. I have taken a class and tried a few projects but they just didn't turn out to my satisfaction so each new pattern I learn to quilt on the HandiQuilter 16 takes a few hours of practice on a white board with a pen and eraser in hand.

With this new pattern I am confident to try it on a quilt that is a must finish for Christmas project. Since my DH is on duty for Thanksgiving, it will be my project for the day instead of dinner since our family members have commitments elsewhere.

Cheryl, you might want to check out this blog post and click on the border picture: http://sewwonderful.blogspot.com/2009/02/first-quilt-for-for-first-grandbaby.html I am not good at borders even now and if I wanted to make a large clam shell type border, I would do it with freezer paper. I used the same two sets for both sides. You can take a length of freezer paper, the size of the border area, fold it, trace a circular object for the arcs, and get a custom size pattern. If the batting is cotton or some poly will take heat (Warm Co. Soft and Bright), you can fuse them to the area and follow the pattern with a regular walking foot. Pin and trace if the poly batting doesn't take hear.